Supermarket sculpts anime and video game heroes out of ground meat

If you’re anything like us, ground meat isn’t exactly a tough sell. It requires no prep work, cooks up in minutes, and you can eat it with a spoon. It may be just about the quickest, tastiest protein fix available.

But should you require any extra evidence that ground meat is awesome, check out these amazing reproductions of popular anime and video game characters in meat form from grocery store Uwajimaya.

Uwajimaya, also known as Uwajimaya Asian Food and Gift Market, is a specialty grocer based in the Pacific Northwest, with a total of four branches in Washington and Oregon. Aside from offering otherwise difficult to find ingredients, the chain holds numerous Japanese cultural events, such as taiko drum performances and lessons in how to play the traditional board game go.

But although Uwajimaya doesn’t list it as a special even on its website, the activities of the meat department at its Seattle location are what people are talking about these days. You’ll have to show up before buying customers make a dent in the displays, but get there early enough, and you’ll see some of anime and video gaming’s most popular characters sculpted out of delicious ground beef and pork.

▼ These days, poor Mega Man gets more love from the butcher than his own parent company, Capcom.

▼ “I’ll eat you, Pikachu!”

▼ We’re guessing that meat-based Pokemon, like this Bulbasaur, are especially weak against fire attacks.

▼ Pokemon – Gotta Cook ‘Em All!

Particularly impressive is the way each of these creations seems to have been carved out of a single grinding, as opposed to sticking separately made sections to each other.

▼ Some amazing detail work on Sonic’s quills.

▼ And where there’s Sonic, Tails can’t be far behind.

Here at RocketNews24, we’ve been chronicling the spreading phenomenon of desserts that look so cute we can hardly bear to eat them, but now, we’re starting to feel reluctant to even use the ingredients.

▼ Unless, after 14 years, you think it’s high time for Naruto to end, and figure the main character being made into a pile of Sloppy Joes is as good a way for the series to wrap up as any.

We also wonder about the effectiveness of these sculptures as a sales promotion, being that by buying the product, you’re forcing the staff to cut into and ruin them. Of course, that only sweetens the deal when it’s the villains that are made out of meat.

▼ “Yes, could I have two pounds of Ganon? I’m a vegan, but Link looks like he could use some help.”

In the case of renouned heroes like Dragon Ball’s Son Goku, shown here in an extra-wide action shot, we wonder if it’s possible to buy the work of art whole, and have it boxed up like a birthday cake.

▼ All it needs is a few candles.

Fittingly for the sort of multiculturalism embodied by an Asian specialty market in the US, Uwajimaya’s meat counter also features characters from American pop culture.

And if your tastes run more towards the classics, Uwajimaya’s meat counter even does Greek mythology.

▼ Although if you’re totally averse to anything literary, you can always just think of Medusa as the Stage 2 boss from the original NES Castlevania.

We know that science has shown there to be several benefits to a vegetarian diet, but until someone can come up with salads that look this cool, we’ll keep believing in the power of meat. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a massive burger craving.